-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- I have the utmost respect for Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley . Their accomplishments are vast . Dr. West , an academic philosopher at Princeton University , has for decades spoken up for the poor .

Tavis Smiley , talk show host and author , has always used his platform to discuss the issues of the black community and the country as a whole .

President Obama said during the 2008 campaign that we should be able to disagree without being disagreeable . That is a simple injunction that many in politics do not follow .

That said , I respectfully disagree with West and Smiley 's characterization of President Obama 's first term in office . West has simply described it as a failure , and referred to the president as `` the black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs , '' and the `` head of the American killing machine . '' Smiley has accused the president of ignoring the issues of the black community . The two held a 16-city `` Poverty Tour '' earlier this month , during which they aired their complaints about Obama .

To hear them tell it , one would think that Obama is in the back pocket of Wall Street and the banks and has turned his back on the working poor , impoverished and middle class in America .

I am not looking at President Obama 's first term through rose colored glasses . There is always room for criticism and improvement ; our president 's decisions are far from perfect .

But the criticism from West and Smiley leave out a lot . They ignore the positive moves Obama has made to benefit -- in real ways -- the black community , the poor , the disadvantaged , and the country as a whole .

Let 's take Obama and health care reform .

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , which he shepherded and signed into law , insurance companies are no longer allowed to deny insurance to individuals because of pre-existing conditions . Children can now remain covered by their parents ' insurance until age 26 . No longer will there be kids fresh out of college starting in entry level positions walking around with no health insurance .

The prescription drug cost for Medicare recipients was cut by 50 % . More than 30 million people who did not have access to coverage will now have that access .

This legislation is not perfect -- it lacks the public option many had hoped for -- but it is the largest federal reform in a lifetime , a tremendous accomplishment .

Then there is the Children 's Health Insurance Re-authorization Act , signed into law by Obama , which provides health care to millions of kids .

Let 's talk Obama and education .

President Obama signed The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , which invests $ 5 billion in early childhood programs like Head Start .

Studies show such programs help kids stay in school longer , earn more money in the long term and have lower involvement in crime .

President Obama also expanded Pell Grants , which help low income students pay for college .

He has done what no other president had done before by enacting the Student Aid and Financial Responsibility Act , which makes college more affordable while ending federal subsidies to private lenders and replacing them with a Direct Loan program . This is a direct contradiction of West 's claims that the president has `` sold out '' to the big banks . The banks lost billions on this act ; in taking them out of the equation , students are no longer held hostage to credit markets .

Somehow , these accomplishments , which have a direct impact on the poor are not mentioned in West 's and Smiley 's critique .

There 's more . Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act , restoring basic protections against pay discrimination

Through the HIRE Act , signed in March , 2010 , Obama gave $ 18 billion in tax breaks for small businesses . He signed a bill extending unemployment insurance .

To review , then : Putting money into community colleges , job readiness programs , putting actual checks into actual hands -- these things do n't sound like the actions of someone who does n't care about the poor and impoverished .

There is a very real crisis in this country .

According to the U.S. Census Bureau , about 45 million Americans live in poverty . Unemployment is 9.1 % . Such statistics are , as Rep. Maxine Waters has said , `` unconscionable . ''

President Obama has been demonstrating that he knows this . So why make someone like him your enemy when you are fighting on the same side ?

If West and Smiley would like Obama to do more , that 's valid . If they feel , like Rep. Elijah Cummings , that `` people need to know that the president feels their pain , '' that too is understandable . But the facts simply do n't support the accusation that Obama holds a laissez-faire attitude toward economically marginalized Americans .

He has faced huge partisan resistance . His campaign adviser , David Axelrod , says Obama will soon announce a jobs plan that is expected to include an extension of payroll tax cuts , new revenue for transportation projects and an extension of emergency unemployment benefits . He notes that there 's nothing in the proposal `` that reasonable people should n't be able to agree on , '' yet many Republicans are already preparing to reject whatever the president puts on the table .

Are they trying to stymie job creation initiatives , and then blame the president for high unemployment when the election rolls around ?

I 'm not saying that President Obama should be exempt from criticism , nor do I believe it is some act of racial treason for a black person to hold our president accountable for his actions . But West and Smiley have a responsibility to present a fair and complete picture , not a skewed version . Could their slanted criticism result in so many of the working poor and impoverished working class becoming so discouraged that they stay home on election day in 2012 ?

If they think they have issues with the president not doing enough for the poor now , wait and see what happens if the opposition takes office . Then they would really need a poverty tour .

We must not forget the mess that President Obama walked into . Obama said in his victory speech , `` even as we celebrate tonight we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime . ... The road ahead will be long . Our climb will be steep . We may not get there in one year , or even one term . ''

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Etan Thomas .

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Cornel West , Tavis Smiley critical of Obama 's first term

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Etan Thomas rejects view that Obama has failed

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He says president has directed aid to those in need

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Thomas : If Obama loses , the poor will get much less help